Daniel slipped into a booth by the window in Frederica's.
Frederica's was a burger bar on the outskirts of Neopia Central, and had a reputation.
It was dirty and greasy, and many evil and scheming Neopians had been spotted
there.
Daniel picked up a menu and glanced down it.
Frederica's
Scrambled
eggs on toast - 500 NP
Chip
butty pizza - 500 NP
Cheeseburger
- 200 NP
Cheese
and onion crisps - 100 NP
Chocolate
cake - 250 NP
Cup
of Tea - 150 NP
Can
of Neocola - 150 NP
Low
fat milk - 150 NP
A tall blonde Uni sauntered over, twiddling
her hair around her slender fingers and bubble gum. "What can I getcha?"
"Er...a cup of tea and cheese and onion crisps,
please." The Uni produced a notepad and scribbled down the order, trying to
avoid snapping her false nails. She strolled back behind the bar and passed
the order through a slot, probably leading back into the kitchen.
Daniel gazed out of the window. He turned around
after a few minutes and stared at the plastic clock hanging off the wall. 9.35
approximately.
Just then the door swung open and in walked
Garth. The Uni behind the counter checked her reflection and strolled over.
"Hey, did you know the hundredth customer gets
a free kiss off of me?"
"Fantastic," Garth grumbled, pushing her out
of the way and pulling a chair over to Daniel's table.
The Uni stomped back behind the counter and
filed her nails frantically. "I'm still pretty...I'm still pretty..." she mumbled.
"About flipping time, Garth, I've been waiting
for ages!"
"Traffic. Anyway, It's only 5 minutes."
"All right, you're forgiven. So what is it you've
got yourself into now?"
The sound of high heels pounding across the
tiled floor silenced the two of them. The Uni slammed a packet of crisps and
a mug of cold tea onto the table. "500 NP."
"You what?" Daniel laughed. "But it only says
250 on the menu."
"Sorry, we had a price change." Daniel shrugged
and handed over 500 NP. "There we are sweetheart." The Uni put on a fake smile
and stormed off to put the money into the till.
"So, Garth, I haven't heard from you for a while.
How are you?"
"Fine thanks." Daniel offered him a crisp. "No,
thanks."
"So what do you want?"
"I'm in a bit of debt."
"That's what the bank is for."
"I might have tried to break into their secret
vaults. And try to steal 1,000,000 NP."
Daniel almost choked on his tea before spitting
it out all over the table. "1,000,000 Neopoints? You must be mad!"
"I know. Well anyway, I was sent to Jail and
I never got to pay off all of my debt. So now it's just piled up and I have
to pay it off before the end of the week."
"Or what?"
"Or I'm taken over to the Space Station to work
for Sloth."
"But that's only for Grundos. And you're a Kyrii."
"No, they've introduced a new plan where all
the other species can work there too, just in a new section. But a whole life
of that and I'd go mental."
"OK, so why do you want my help?"
"I need some Neopoints. Quick."
"And what sort of figures?" Daniel asked.
"Well...something around...500,000 Neopoints."
"Holy smokes! How did you get that much?"
"We don't have time for this, we have to get
to work now!"
"Hey hey hey! How do you expect me to get all
of this money?"
"Well you know dodgy guys who can steal some
cash and pass it on."
"What if they get caught?"
"That's a chance I'm willing to take Daniel.
Please, just help me!"
"All right, all right!" Daniel scrunched up
his crisp bag and opened the window a crack. He tipped the remains of his icy
tea outside.
"So you'll help me?"
"Well...why not." He handed his mug and crisp
bag to an old Eyrie from the kitchen staff that happened to be passing. "So
when should we...you know, get to work?"
"The sooner the better," Garth said. "How about
tonight? You can arrange to meet these pals of yours, can't you?"
"I'll have to Neomail them, but I'm sure we
can sort something out. Let's meet anyway, how about back here, about 10 tonight?"
"Right. Thanks, Daniel."
"No problem." He stood up and shook hands with
Garth, who pushed his chair under a wobbly table, and they both left in silence.
Only, Garth looked a lot happier than Daniel. Was it purely relief or something
more?
"Oh, Garth!" Daniel called. Garth turned. "Garth,
they might block your account if they catch you, you know, because it's against
the rules."
"That's a chance I'm willing to take."
"Just thought I'd warn you." Daniel shrugged
and waved as the two of them parted once again.
Approximately 12 hours later, Daniel was sitting
in the exact same booth, waiting for the exact same person. Outside rain fell
heavily from the sky and wind blew strongly. Thunder and lightning rumbled overhead.
Through the darkness, Daniel could see a shape
emerge. It was big and bulky, and moving in long strides. Daniel ran over to
the door and opened it, standing back to avoid the spray being created as the
pounding rain splashed against cold concrete.
The bulk moved inside and shook itself off.
It removed its raincoat, and revealed itself to everyone. Garth.
The Uni from earlier looked up and tried to
impress him again. She pulled a chair over to the table quickly. "Here we are
sunshine," she said softly, smiling.
"Thanks," he grumbled. The Uni staggered off,
stunned that he'd thanked her for something. She flopped onto a chair and tried
to control her breathing.
Daniel shook Garth's hand again. "Garth, this
is Deano, Deano, this is Garth." The Eyrie sitting opposite Daniel leant over
the corner of the table and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. Now I understand
you're in a bit of financial difficulty."
"Yeah, that's right."
"I also understand you need my help."
"Right again."
"And how much money are we talking here?"
"About 500,000."
"You're having a laugh, aren't you?"
"No, I'm deadly serious."
"I can only give you 100,000, tops."
"That'll do."
"Okay." Deano produced a small plastic bag from
the Toy Shop. He whispered into Garth's ear, "inside this bag there's the full
100,000, no more, no less. I'll give you a year to pay it back. Or else I'll
say you stole it." Garth gulped and took the bag.
"Got it?"
"Sure thing. Should we arrange another meeting
towards the end of the year?"
"Yeah. Nice to meet you. See you." Deano waved
as he left the burger bar, sheltering his head as he ran to the nearest transport
back to his NeoHome.
"So is that sorted?"
"Not quite. Is there anyone else you can tell
me about?"
"Well..." Daniel thought for a moment and looked
in his pocket address book. "A-ha. There's someone I can arrange a meeting with
tomorrow morning. Back here at 9.30?"
"Great. I really do appreciate this, you know
Dan."
"Yeah, I know." He patted Garth on the shoulder
and set back off towards his NeoHome. Garth sighed and relaxed in his chair.
An evil smile crept onto his face. Things were working out perfectly...but for
whom?
This routine continued for a few days - a meeting
with a dealer in the morning and again in the evening - until Garth had the
full 500,000. It was sunny morning when it was all finally done.
Garth put his feet up on the table and smiled.
Yet again, he was at Frederica's, eating Chip Butty Pizza and drinking Neocola.
The pizza was rubbery and cold; the neocola was warm and sickly.
Garth pushed his plate away from him and stared
outside at the glistening sun. It was a perfect day, but this wasn't the way
to spend it...
He glanced at the large paper bag, which contained
500,000 Neopoints. Thought bubbles flew everywhere. But they didn't contain
debt...they contained enjoyment...
Garth left the Burger Bar, leaving the Uni a
tip of 1000 Neopoints. He strolled casually to the car lot around the corner,
and bought himself the latest model, which cost him 100,000 Neopoints. He drove
around Neopia Central with his stereo at full volume playing Moehawk. The roof
was down and the wind blew through his hair.
He stopped at the food shop. Their food had
to be better than Frederica's. He strolled inside and grabbed a basket. He picked
up Krawk brand crisps and Borovan Brownies, as well as some apple neocola. He
swung his basket as he walked to the till to pay - when suddenly he got the
fright of his life.
Standing in the queue for the till was Daniel.
He was obviously sick of Frederica's too. Garth stood behind one of the aisles,
but he was still too tall. Instead, he knelt down, pretending to tie up his
shoelace.
He stayed in this position for a few minutes
until he was certain Daniel had gone. Fortunately he had just left. Garth sighed,
relieved. He paid for his items, his heart thumping. He knew that it was a close
escape and he'd made it, but he was still worried. What if Daniel had been right,
and he would he caught?
Garth drove back to his NeoHome with his roof
up, in case he was seen. He drove faster and with his music almost silent. He
decided that it was too much of a risk living in Neopia Central. He'd have to
move.
That evening, he was packing all of his possessions
into boxes and bags. It was a shame for him - he'd lived in Neopia Central since
he was a baby Kyrii. But if he wanted to remain alive, he'd have to leave.
He threw the boxes into the boot, as there were
no back seats in this car. He turned the lights off inside the NeoHome and locked
the door. He stepped back and took a long look. Tears welled up in his eyes,
but he fought them back. He climbed into his car and drove away, towards his
new destination...
He awoke the next morning on the floor. He'd
obviously fell asleep in his new NeoHome on arrival. He saw all of his boxes
around him, but there was one thing missing...
He searched frantically in every room of his
new Krawk Island home, but to no avail. He searched all day and all night, but
he never did find that bag. There was still over 250,000 Neopoints left in it,
all of which he planned to spend on luxuries. He sobbed for days and daren't
go outside in case the police were waiting for him. He opened his curtain a
crack and looked all around. No sign of anyone except his neighbours. He put
one foot outside the door and then the other until he was at the waters edge.
In the far distance was a ship, and closer still was a...
"BAG!"
He dived into the sea and swam as fast as he
could. He paddled breathlessly, but the money just got further and further away
from him. In the end he just gave up. He could never catch it, not in a million
years.
He returned to his NeoHome in Neopia Central
and sold all of his possessions. He continuously tried to make Neopoints, and
after a few years he had almost 500,000 Neopoints. He was skinny and weak, as
he rarely ate due to lack of funds. He dragged himself over to Tyrannia every
day to collect his omelette, but he sold 2/3 of that to help make a profit.
He was bored - the only enjoyment was games.
He gave back all of the Neopoints, plus interest,
which the dodgy dealers had been expecting for a long time. He told the police
what he'd done, expecting a terrible outcome, like being blocked or becoming
a slave.
"Mr. Garth Granger, due to your honesty and
good efforts, we will reward you. We have needed money for so long now, and
you managed to persuade those dealers to give us it. Thank you!" a police Chia
bellowed across the neocourt. Everyone in the room clapped and cheered. The
police Chia handed Garth a cheque of 250,000 Neopoints, all of which he gave
to the pound and the Space station adoption agency. He was fed delicious food
and given expensive toys. Now, when he looked back on life, he could think how
good it eventually turned out to be.
The End
Note: This is, to my knowledge, totally untrue, it's just a story and was in
no way made to influence things like this. | 
